Rep. Issa cutting House Dems out of Libya investigation

The trip was used to gather evidence for a politically-charged hearing the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee will hold Wednesday on security lapses at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, the memo said.

U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens and three others were killed in a terrorist attack on the Consulate last month. The memo written by Democratic committee staff and obtained by The Hill, said Issa and other Republicans gave Democrats less than 24 hours notice of the trip and did not identify any potential interview subjects.

The memo said the trip’s itinerary “listed as the sole Committee activity in Libya: TBD.”

The secretive trip, the Democratic staff memo says, is proof that Issa is looking to score political points by holding the hearing less than a month before election day while the investigation is still going on.

“The Chairman and his staff failed to consult with Democratic Members prior to issuing public letters with unverified allegations, concealed witnesses and refused to make one hearing witness available to Democratic staff, withheld documents obtained by the Committee during the investigation, and effectively excluded Democratic Committee Members from joining a poorly-planned congressional delegation to Libya,” the memo said.

Issa has said he is “pursuing this on a bipartisan basis.”

The 17-page memo lays out how the hearing was quickly put together after Issa’s panel interviewed a State Department staffer last week who said he was denied additional security when he was stationed in Tripoli.

“Issa did not consult with [ranking member Elijah] Cummings (D-Md.) or any Democratic Committee Members before publicizing some of the unverified allegations obtained by the committee during that interview,” the memo states. “Instead, he rushed to send a public letter to the State Department within hours of the interview” with State Department Regional Security Officer Eric Nordstrom.

The memo also criticizes Issa for refusing to let Democrats interview the head of the 16-member special forces team that provided embassy protection but was pulled out of Libya in August. Lt. Col Andy Wood has said publicly that Stevens wanted his team to stay in the country but was turned down by the State Department.

This is the same crap that Issa and the Reps pulled in the Fast & Furious investigation. Since they whiffed on that now they are trying to score political points with the Libya investigation. It's the same dog and pony show.

re: Rep. Issa cutting House Dems out of Libya investigation(Posted by wickowick on 10/9/12 at 12:35 pm to Decatur)

quote:This is the same crap that Issa and the Reps pulled in the Fast & Furious investigation. Since they whiffed on that now they are trying to score political points with the Libya investigation. It's the same dog and pony show.

Issa is bastardizing his oversight role.

F&F is far from over, some people just have the ability to multitask, others needs to focus on one thing at a time...

re: Rep. Issa cutting House Dems out of Libya investigation(Posted by Godfather1 on 10/9/12 at 12:41 pm to Decatur)

You seem to have absolutely no problem with this administration's lack of transparency. Or, for that matter, their lack of accountability. Therefore, if it's sympathy you're seeking, I'd suggest checking in the dictionary somewhere between "shit" and "syphilis".

re: Rep. Issa cutting House Dems out of Libya investigation(Posted by C on 10/9/12 at 12:42 pm to Decatur)

So are dems activily trying to find out what happened in Libya? I mean other than telling the media or the public they are. What substantial things have democrats done to show they are truly concerned about how our ambassador was killed?

re: Rep. Issa cutting House Dems out of Libya investigation(Posted by CITWTT on 10/9/12 at 12:42 pm to Decatur)

To any sentient person in this country or outside of it do you relize what it takes to for an opinion on this debacle? Looking at the string of outright lies to CYA out of DC is the answer. As to being shut out that is a crock of shite in fact according to the Rules of Robert used by the House and Senate. BTW just as a reminder, who was it that shut out Republicans on the health care bill decision making process, and what did she have to say about it?

re: Rep. Issa cutting House Dems out of Libya investigation(Posted by ThisWayChad on 10/9/12 at 12:44 pm to Decatur)

quote:This is the same crap that Issa and the Reps pulled in the Fast & Furious investigation. Since they whiffed on that now they are trying to score political points with the Libya investigation. It's the same dog and pony show.

re: Rep. Issa cutting House Dems out of Libya investigation(Posted by MFn GIMP on 10/9/12 at 12:54 pm to Decatur)

quote:The trip was used to gather evidence for a politically-charged hearing the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee will hold Wednesday on security lapses at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, the memo said.

U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens and three others were killed in a terrorist attack on the Consulate last month

So a hearing on security lapses that led to a terrorist attack that killed a sitting US Ambassadord, held by the House committee charged with oversight, is "politically charged?"